A week in the office…

Much like many of you, this has been a somewhat normal week in the office. We took our interns to lunch to thank them for their hard work this season and we’re playing catch up on emails and other things that have sat on our to-do lists for months. As you can imagine, there’s not a lot of down time during the season despite the fact that days can start at 9 a.m. and go until 11 p.m. on a regular basis.

We’re also hard at work on the Season in Review guide and we’ll post the PDFs when they’re finished like last season. When the team goes to the playoffs, everyone stays through the night to make sure it’s ready by Game 1 of the Division Series but we’re able to take more time now to ensure that it has less (hopefully no) errors in it. This will serve as a guide for the media until the new 2008 Information Guide comes out in early March.

We’re also hard at work starting to plan for the 50th anniversary celebration, which will be a huge part of next season at Dodger Stadium. This will take the hard work of countless people in the front office, as will the numerous other initiatives that will be unveiled or introduced in the weeks and months to come.

Demolition has also started taking place on the Field Level, which will look completely different next year and hopefully provide the fans with many of the amenities that are in other ballparks across the country. It should also decrease the time spent waiting in line dramatically, which is one of the biggest complaints we’ve received over the 10-plus years I’ve been here. If you don’t usually sit on the field level, please be patient, as we’ll be working our way up during future offseasons.

Otherwise, it’s relatively quiet around here, which is never fun in October. But just like the fans, we’re watching the postseason every day and I, for one, am glad to see the NL West representing well so far. As we all know, anything can happen (just ask Derek Lowe, Dave Roberts and the rest of the 2004 Red Sox), so I’m not counting the Phillies or Cubs out just yet.

Anyone care to place their predictions for the postseason in the comments? At least you’ll have proof that you "called the Indians over the Cubs in the World Series" when and if it actually happens.

That’s about it for now. Have a good weekend.

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65 Comments

I, for one, would just like to thank you Josh for putting up with all of us this season and for your excellent diligence in responding to us fans. We are lucky to have such a proactive front office person talking with us every day. I am looking forward to 2008 and beyond as Ned & Co. stay the course with the kids leading the way towards the next Dodger Championship!! You can see how the Indians, Rockies, and Diamondbacks have thrived this season with more home-grown and acquired young talent. I know we can model after them and with the monetary resources at our disposal we should do just fine. Thanks again Josh.

Yeah but we “can’t afford to have youth movement. I mean, we HAVE to spend 100 million a season, even its on over the hill ****. Cause if we don’t we might end up in fourth place, and this is LOS ANGELES, and that’s unacceptable. Oh wait….

1: The Dodgers won’t see a postseason for the next 10 years, so long as Jeff Kent and those like him run this club.

2: The field level amenities will get done in a timely manner, making it nice and modern. The cheap seats will get screwed once again, as nobody really cares about a fan who doesn’t spend $45 on a ticket.

3: Grady Little will fail to win NL Manager of the Year in 2008. Nobody will be surprised.

4: James Loney, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, or Andre Eithier will be traded to appease the Social Security class that has obviously hijacked this club. The player traded will have an MVP season within 3 years.

5: Once again, I’ll be thankful the Dodgers got off track 10 years ago, because the Angels got great on their leavings.

OK…anybody want to think of me as the new GM of the Dodgers?..lol…
I said last off season I wouldn’t have signed Schmidt because of his last 2 years or so of pitching..wasn’t that great and silly to spend that much money on him…Then I said I would have retained Kenny Lofton for 1 or 2 years if he wouldn’t take just one…but I think he would have…that way Juan Pierre wouldn’t have been necessary…then this year we could have gone after Rowand who is far superior in the field and at the plate…I wouldn’t have signed Loaiza..another older fair pitcher…We need a left hander more..the more I watch the playoffs, the more I think it’s extremely important to have one or two left handers in the rotation..It seems teams have more trouble with left handers, than just so-so right handers…

And I think the Rockies win the NL…loved them even before they were leading the Phils 2-0…I think they will get it done…they have alot going for them…as the Dodgers would have, had they decided to go young and believe in their young players instead of bringing in over the hill veterans..We would have been another year forward in our progress.

Erich (Phoenix, AZ): Can you address Stephen Drew’s coming out party and its impact on the D-Backs

SportsNation Jerry Crasnick: Erich,

All the scouts I talked to this year were shocked that Steven Drew was limping along in the .220s. He has the talent to be a .280 to .300 hitter with pop. I think his performance this October is a reward for the D-backs sticking with him through the hard times. When the Dodgers watch Drew and Chris Young go wild in October, they must wish they’d stuck their kids in the lineup every day and allowed them to take their lumps and grow in the same way.

yeah but I mean those AZ kids and CO guys… they don’t know how to win. How to manufacture runs. They’re not professionals. They haven’t been there before. Seriously, why are we so loyal to a franchise that’s screwed up so badly for so many years? If its a AZ/CO NLCS it just proves that our org is completely outclassed in its own division.

This management left in place will do no better next year, even though our young players will be another year advanced. There’s no winning spirit in Colletti or Grady, much like they let the clubhouse get out of hand this season. As far as I’m concerned there’s no will to win in this ownership either.

If this post season keeps up the way it is, The D’Backs & Rox will show how strong they are to the rest of the sport. I think it shows how strong the N.L. West is also. Of course it isn’t over yet, but it’s taking that shape.

the rockies and d-backs are goin to be realy good for a long time to come. i just hope that we can hang with them next year. we really need to fire both grady and ned. we need to bring somebody who was part of the dodgers glory days. they need to show these really talented players how to play “the dodger way”

I heard yesterday the D-backs led baseball in one-run victories this year. That has a way of balancing out the next year. And the Rockies are not going to win 16 out of 17 every year. So while I salute them both, I’m not exactly quaking in my boots thinking about the next decade in the NL West. Pitching still wins. And neither of those staffs is scary. Of course, they’re not afaiad of L.A. either…and why should they be? Year after year we hear about bringing back the swagger, the respect, the winning. We Dodger fans are STILL waiting, patiently, I might add, and it’s been that way for 19 years. Our eggs lie in the baskets of Martin, Loney, Kemp, Billingsley, and Broxton. Here’s hoping. They appear to be the real deal…

For the past couple of decades almost all of our young pitchers(with the exception of the Martinez brothers) have been busts. Lets hope Billz, Kershaw, McDonald, Melonan, Brox, Elbert, etc. can have a different fate. Hafner GW single, Indians up 2-0.

I was saying the Rockies were one of the most talented teams in the NL… looks like I was right again…lol. They are winning despite their skipper. GO ROCKIES….. oops I forgot this wasn’t the rockies blog.. hehe…

I can’t believe Luis Vizcaino threw a change up to Hafner with a 3 ball count where a walk would have brought home the winning run! He’s actually lucky that Hafner got a base hit, because he would have received harsh crticism if he had walked him.

Thanks for keeping us updated, Josh. I like football and the excitement of playoff basketball, but nothing compares to Dodgers baseball for me.

Sure, it’s been a brutal 19 years, but if the Cubs fans can still pack in Wrigley after 99 years of failure, I don’t see why I should have to change my team after a crappy season (or a move to Giants country). I’ll leave that to the bandwagoners who traded their Bash Brothers A’s green for Braves red in the 90s, and then switched from Yankees to Red Sox then back to Yankees support in this decade (really, I know people who do this, including one professed “Yankees fan” who, when seeing the second game of a NYY-BOS series, said “Hey, I thought they played the Red Sox yesterday!”).

It just seems to me that this team, who’ve been around before Naismith invented basketball, who had one of their first clubhouses in the Stone House where Gen. Washington led the Continental troops in the Battle of Brooklyn, that have been building up our dreams, breaking our hearts, and always leaving us hungry for next year since before our fathers were born, they have a certain magic that keeps us all enthralled for years. Most of us couldn’t quit rooting for this team even if we wanted to. And if we tried, it’d make for a horrible detox period.

Point being, I know I’m a sports nut, and it’s nice to know that as somewhat of a healthy baseball addict, I can get news from my favorite team straight from the source. Not many other teams have that. Even when that incident with Dodger Talk happened, you tackled it here and spoke your piece, whereas other pro sports teams in town (Lakers) have official sites which turn a blind eye towards any issues that call them out in the media (usually Kobe related). They remain silent when they should be taking the oppurtunity to reach out to the fans and say “Hey, we have a plan, we have a commitment to you as fans to bring home a championship,” instead of leaving their faithful to the fickle spin doctors of the National Sports Media.

That’s not how business is done at the Ravine, and that’s a good thing. As long as this blog is maintained, I take comfort knowing that we’ll get information about the Dodgers fromt he Dodgers, and if the Dodgers want to tap into the mindset of their fans, they’ll know where to look.

I wonder whether the Conte who is now the Dodgers’ head trainer, etc. is any relation to Victor Conte, who headed up BALCO the San Francisco steroid house that’s been much in the news concerning the doping scandals. Not making any accusations, but does anybody know.
I, of course, have no faith at all in Conte, just like all the other imports from the Giants, starting with Colletti.

now that you bring up Conte, is it not refreshing that Stan johnston, popular and loyal for 23 years 6 of the last 7 as head trainer gets relieved of his duties. Conte is the head honcho, nice recommendation on Scmidt you *****, i remember the quote that in effect said I feel comfortable knowing Jasons past and his medical history. I hope that 20k watch…never mind. Anyway it just shows how cut throat baseball and Colletti are. 23 years loyal and one of the best and most popular trainers in the game gets canned.

Lets get more Giants in our organization. Why do we not see the need to hire True Dodgers. We rue the day that Scioscia was hired down the street. Fire Ned and Grady, hire Hershiser/Dave wallace if he would do it to be the GM and hire Steve Yeager as manager. He will not put up with the BS we saw this year and he has been there with these young guys. And he is a winner ans a dodger.

AFTER WATCHING third baseman Mike Lowell, who becomes a free agent after this season, leave two runners on in the seventh and then make an error in the eighth, I’m convinced Dodger GM Ned Colletti now will try to sign him.

furthermore, I come to bury Conte not praise him. I know a poor Shakespeare reference, unlike Brutus I want my true feelings known, but how in the world did a Dr in Philly find a tear on Abreu and not our crack medical team. How do you think that greivance is going to play out? The team was questioning the integrity of one of our top prospects.

This is who we have aligned our medical bias with. We believed him with Schmidt and according to the team nothing was wrong with Abreu. This is scary. Hopefully they will have outside opinions on MRIs fro now on.

We can blame Conte all we want, but nothing is going to happen as long as Colletti is around. They’re hand in glove, just like Colletti and Grady, and there’s always McCourt to sustain them all around – all infallible people – isn’t that nice. What a future for the Dodgers with all these F***ups around.

agreed…I hope they go after Hunter or Rowand…these guys are leaders, watch them play the young guys will respond to them and Kent can stay in the corner and hit his 290-300 20+ hrs and 90-100 rbi and not say anything.

I don’t know how much of the ‘commitment to the young kids’ I can believe considering its coming from Ned and Grady. The focus point ned needs to have this offseason is 3B. Nomar isn’t the answer for this year. LaRoche is the future there but he is not yet ready. Hopefully Ned will be able to sign one or trade for one with power. I wish Florida would take something less then Martin for Cabrera. I think Ned should persuit Beltre… He was my favorite player a few years ago and I would LOVE to have him back. I think with Beltre we would be a legit WS contender…

Swood****I agree about 3rd base. But I wouldn’t worry that they would trade Martin for Cabrera, I also agree with you on Beltre. It could happen since Colletti wasn’t the one who let him go. I believe if anybody got traded it would have to be one of the kids that are not on the 25 man roster.

Well, whotayano? The Cubs did it again, it’s the 100 straight years they fail to win a championship. And they haven’t been in a World Series since 1945. I thought they may break that spell this year, but the ran into the 2007 version of the Arizona D’Backs. Can the Rox be far behind? Well Dodger fans at least we can say we were beaten by some tough teams.

Rocks and D-backs? Who’d a thunk it! Well…I’m trying to take some of the sting out of this @#$%$# season by telling myself we’re in the toughest division in the NL. That should be The Dodgers playing in the NL final, though.
I still do not think Little and Colletti should be fired, but letting Johnston go is bugging me. These imports from the giants organization did not bother me at first, but now a guy with 23 yrs with the Dodgers has been fired. As I posted before, I’d like to know the whole story on that one.

In the future, as a long time LA fan, I’d much rather see people with a Dodger back ground getting the jobs. I think the ownership should keep that in mind if next season starts out like this one ended.

Pierreseast- I talked to a Nationals scout personally in Richmond a month ago. He was the one who told me about the Cabrera for Martin deal, but that Ned told Florida Russ was off limits, and therefore they won’t trade Miggy. Personally I would love for us to trade LaRoche for Beltre, but I think the M’s would want more then just LaRoche for Beltre. LaRoche’s stock has dropped, and rightfully so after his performance this September. I do however think his injuries will scare teams off from trading anything good for him so it looks like we’re stuck with him.

SWOOD I hate to think this but the only way(I THINK) we’re ever going to get a Miguel Cababrea or a Beltre is to trade guys like Hu, Del Young, Meloan along with T. Abreu or Andy LaRoche, somebody young. I definately don’t want to see Ethier or Kemp go. I’d much rather see us get a star from the free agent market so we can manuver our gold mine of young talent the way the team feels best. What do you and the rest of the guys think of the D’Backs & Rockies? To tell you the truth I have very mixed feelings. Although I hate to see someone else in our division to really improve and advance themselves, maybe it’s good to have high quality of play right here in the N.L. West. It’s almost like these two teams are building a trench or a road for us to follow on our way to the top, when it’s our turn to go to the post season. Like coming from a higher class of talent if we ever get passed the talent of this division.

i wrote a couple months back sayign that baseball was changing. its different then it was 5- 10 years ago. teams are building through their organization. teams in the past have done it and now the rockies d-backs and possilby the indians…that would mean that 3 of the 4 teams in the final four of the postseason had built through their organization, and picked up some key verterans too help teach the young guys…(not 40 year old players, who are selfish). after this postseason do any of you guys think that we will see much more of this going on?? more teams holding on to their postpects instead of giving them up. that is the way the trend has gone in the past couple years at the trading deadline….the one team that gave up a couple nice prospects..the braves…well they barely made a run at the playoffs…in my opinion this will continue and i am all for it

On the D’Backs & Rockie’s….
No one, is really bashing the ball. It’s being done w/pitching. How many times, during the 07 season, did I sit here and wish, we would have a Rameirez, a Lee, an Alex, a Posada a Haupe ??????

All of these guys may get you to the play-offs but not the W.S. Seems like All of these Big Boppers play dead, when it counts. I can’t explain it.

Paddy (St. Louis, MO): Buster, What moves do you see the Dodgers making this off season? Tons or rumors, but is there one that may just happen?

SportsNation Buster Olney: Paddy: Depends on who is making the decision. There is a lot of talk in baseball circles about a real split between the development folks and the front office. If Ned Colletti has control of the decisions in the off-season, I think there will be an aggressive overhaul. If not, it’ll be all about the kids next year.

______________________________

If Ned is allowed to unilaterally call the shots, be afraid…be very afraid.

I think we should consider trading LaRoche now just because his stock is still high and I think it will likely go down within the next couple of years. We NEED some power from the 3B position and the only way we are likely going to get it is if we trade LaRoche.

Ty Bicks (Reno): How many games did Little cost the Dodgers by using Nomar, Pierre, Gonzo, Tomko, Hendrickson, Hernandez instead of Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley, Loney, LaRoche and Meloan every day from Opening Day on? Definitely cost us a playoff berth, right?

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:07 PM ET ) Yes, I believe it did cost them a playoff berth. But you have to split the blame between Little and Ned Colletti. And I’d put more blame on the guy who actually signed Pierre and re-signed Nomar.

I forgot to mention that I noticed Gagne mopped up for the Redsox tonight, so I’ll add his name to Loften, Werth, Drew & Lugo for ex-Dodgers in the post season, if anybody knows of any others you’re welcome to add them on. I also noticed that Loften was the left fielder for the Indians tonight, makes you think maybe Pierre…

I noticed that about Lofton too. They have Sizemore in center field. He’s a lot like Kemp. Big , Fast, Strong, and hits for average.

Lofton’s only choice was to play left. He was unselfish and did it. His offense this year also ran circles around Pierre’s.

So i’ll make this point before Alex comes on here and whines about how Lofton doesn’t play everyday…I’d rather have Lofton play 140 games and have superior numbers then Pierre then Pierre playing 162 games and running the offense into the ground.

I also think that McCourt’s lately found commitment to “young players” stems from the fact that he doesn’t want to opt for any more big player contracts. After all, the fans will happily cheer and pack the stadium for a team of the young guys on the field for a year or two, even if we continue to finish third or fourth in the division. With AZ and CO improving with their young players maturing, and with SD pitching, that’s where we’re likely to rank for a while.

Far as I see, we have two proven major league worthy young every day players on the roster – Martin and Loney, and two more on the pitching staff in Billingsley and Broxton. I would like to think that Kemp can prove himself the equivalent of Holliday, but it took the latter several years before he produced his MVP numbers this season. I’m not sure that Kemp has the character or smarts to develop into that kind of All-Star, but next season will tell a lot toward that end. Whether Kent comes back or not, we’ll have a weakness at 2nd base, because Kent’s numbers will not get better, and he’s a liability in the field. Abreu looks good there, but not likely to immediately be good enough to be on a division contender. LaRoche will probably get a fair chance at third, unless traded, but third will continue to be a weakness unless we opt for somebody in his prime to anchor that position. Pierre will be Pierre, and that’s not good enough to make our team a contender. Ethier is an acceptable outfielder, but not comparable to Hawpe or Byrne – maybe if he has the chance to play without being platooned, he’ll establish himself.

When we get down to pitching, I’m afraid we will really look weak in the starter category. Bills should improve further, Penny could be expected to match last season, and Lowe somewhat better, but this will probably be Lowe’s last season with the Dodgers. If we look at Stults and Houlton, neither of them looks like a Morales or Jimenez, so I’ll dismiss them from future consideration. Kershaw and McDonald are probably at least a year or two away, and too much bad seems to happen with our pitching prospects on the way to LA to count on them at this stage. Beyond those two, what?

It’s not going to be good enough to just stick with the team and with our home grown prospects to win the division next year or two, much less step it up to the World Series. I personally don’t trust Colletti to make the right deals, because he’s proven himself to be at the tail end of GM savvy and competence. On top of that, I expect he’ll be overseen by McCourt so as to limit his options for prospects that he’ll be allowed to trade. I wish McCourt would have cleaned the slate and put in someone in whom he has full confidence instead of providing lip service for the current management team. There’s a lot of work to be done in this off-season if we’re going to seriously contend in this now strong division. For McCourt’s sake, we may very well draw those 4 million fans, but with the same management in place, the results will likely be very similar.

Since some people don’t have the brain power of Rex Hudler’s seed, I suppose I have to respond in here… again.

I’ve always been a Dodgers fan. They’re my National League team. But I grew up 5 minutes from Anaheim Stadium, so my heart has always been with the Angels.

The comments I made in here weren’t “smack talk.” Were this solely a Dodgers forum, I wouldn’t have made them. But, since a member of the Dodgers front office writes this and asked for predictions, I made them. They’re based on the direction this club seems to be taking, which is extraordinarily disheartening.

I answered “martinloneykemp@hotmail.com” (who should change his email to “kentgonzalezgarciaparra@hotmail.com, the way things are looking) over on my blog, the link is below. As he had to puff up his chest feathers (through the anonymity of the internet) and copy his rant here “for your entertainment” (more likely so he can feel big & supported), I feel compelled to respond.

The Dodgers are in a bad place. Talk all the smack you want about the Angels, but they have a better organization than the Dodgers, thanks to the lack of foresight in the Murdoch era, and a better chance of seeing a World Series than the older SoCal brothers do in the near future. I’d like to see that fixed, but holding onto the old guard is only going to ensure that teams who play more like teams than individuals will prevail.

The Angels were greater than the sum of their parts this year. The Dodgers were less. That isn’t “smack talk,” that’s the sad truth. In Loney, Kemp, Martin, Ethier, there lies the foundation of a great team. They just need somebody great to lead them, which the Dodgers do not have.

Here’s hoping they get their heads out of their ***** and pick up a manager who can turn this cluster **** into a team. There’s going to be a lot of good ones out there this year.

Oh, and anonymous hotmail guy, keep trying to take out your frustrations on me or anybody who sticks his head up to point out what needs fixing about this team. I have a thick skin, I can take it. Be just like those Yankee fans who still yell “1918!” whenever the Red Sox come into town.

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